Former Priest Gets
Life in Prison
Irving: Term is mandatory after previous conviction

By Robert Tharp
Dallas Morning News
July 6, 2005

A former Catholic priest who sexually assaulted a man in an Irving hotel
was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday under a law that imposes an
automatic life term when convicted sex offenders re-offend.

John Salazar stood impassively as Judge Gary Stephens imposed his sentence.
The judge then allowed the victim of the September 2003 assault to confront
Mr. Salazar in the courtroom.

"Salazar's victims also suffer a life sentence ... to suffering
and shame," Beau Villegas said while giving his victim impact statement.

Mr. Villegas addressed Mr. Salazar directly while talking about how the
assault had affected his life. Mr. Salazar appeared to be taking notes
during the statement and did not look up.

The Dallas Morning News does not normally publish the names of victims
in sex-crime cases, but Mr. Villegas has asked that he be identified.

He wasn't Mr. Salazar's first victim. The automatic life sentence was
imposed because he had already been to prison in California for molesting
two boys in the 1980s while working as a priest.

He was still on parole when hired by the Catholic diocese in Amarillo
and assigned to a small church in Tulia, Texas, in 1991. Some diocese
officials were aware of at least some of Mr. Salazar's background, but
parishioners were told nothing about the energetic young priest.

Mr. Salazar resigned from the priesthood in 2002 shortly before Catholic
bishops created a national zero-tolerance policy for priests accused of
sexual offenses. He was unable to function or dress as a priest but technically
was still in the priesthood when he and Mr. Villegas attended a wedding
together in Irving the next year.

During the trial, Mr. Villegas testified that Mr. Salazar sexually assaulted
him when they returned to his hotel room. Mr. Villegas said he became
too intoxicated to resist Mr. Salazar's advances.

Mr. Villegas said he trusted Mr. Salazar because he had been his family's
longtime priest and close family friend in Tulia.

Mr. Villegas, who filed a lawsuit against Mr. Salazar and the Amarillo
diocese minutes after Mr. Salazar's conviction last week, criticized Catholic
officials for hiding Mr. Salazar's criminal past when he was brought into
the Amarillo diocese from a Catholic treatment center for sex-offender
priests in 1991. He was also critical of the church's handling of other
recent cases.

"With the exception of a few good men ... as a whole the Catholic
church has failed us around the world," he said.

Judge Stephens had no option but to sentence Mr. Salazar to life in prison.
Texas law requires a life sentence in first-degree felony sexual assault
cases when the defendant has been convicted of a serious sex offense.

Mr. Salazar's attorneys did not dispute the earlier conviction for assaulting
two boys in California in the 1980s, but they argued that the law should
not apply because it was created after Mr. Salazar's first offense. The
attorneys said they planned to appeal the sentence.

By law, Mr. Salazar must spend at least 30 years in prison before he's
eligible for parole.

Mr. Villegas' mother, Jamie Villegas, said she was satisfied with the
prison sentence, but it does not make her feel better about what happened.

"We are sad about this. We are not celebrating in any form or fashion,"
she said. "We genuinely loved and cared for this man."

Kristopher Galland, the Dallas representative of SNAP, the Survivors
Network of those Abused by Priests, said he's glad for Mr. Salazar's harsh
sentence because he was given so many chances in the past.

"Rarely do we get to see justice move this fast," he said.
"Usually the bad guy gets swept under the rug."